Hearts of Blazing Fury
Prologue "Johnny! Grab Pom-Pom! We're having a Pokemon competition in the dust lot!" Sammy yelled, his best friend, Paddy the Lotad at his side. "Tad, Lotad!" Paddy followed up. "No rush, Johnny. You know how Sammy always does everything like his pants are going to burst into flames if he stops moving." Abby said, giggling. Her two Ninetales, Maisha and Mauti, looked at her, their golden fur billowing like smoke in the breeze. Maisha gave Mauti a smile, her pink collar's pendant glittering under the shade of the tree. Mauti raised her lip in disgust, her blue collar jingling. A brown-haired boy and a tiny pink Skitty came running out of the house at the street corner. "Come on, Pom-Pom! We're going to be late!" "You already are, slowpoke." Sammy said, adjusting his wide framed glasses on his nose. The blue streak in his black hair blowing in the light breeze. "Now come on. Tabitha and Zodiac are already there waiting." "Aww, Zodiac's there?" Johnny asked disappointedly. He looked at Pom-Pom, picking her up. "Well, we might as well just give up now. Fauzi will burn us all to a crisp." A vision of the massive male Arcanine with his flowing, cream-colored mane flashed in his mind. Abby laughed again. "Oh, come on, Johnny. Fauzi's not that good." She turned to Maisha and Mauti, petting their fur. "We're finally going to beat him, huh Maisha?" "Ninetales!" Maisha barked excitedly. In the field, Tabitha and Zodiac were warming up to battle each other. Tabitha could be seen with the wild shiny Glaceon, Jaha, and Zodiac could be seen with her impressive fighting machine, Fauzi, his red bandana holding his mane close to his neck. His brown eyes met Mauti's as she walked into the field with the others. "Hi, Tabitha! Hi, Zodiac!" Abby yelled, waving in their direction. Tabitha looked up from Jaha, his black hair falling in his face. He waved at her. "Hey, Abby." Johnny ran up to the huge Arcanine, Pom-Pom at his side. "I wanna fight Fauzi first!" "No way, Johnny!" Sammy said. "I'm going to fight him first!" "In your dreams, guys! I was here first!" Tabitha said, a smile of determination on his face. Fauzi and Jaha, as if reading everyone's body language, dropped into battle positions and began to growl at each other. Fauzi looked back at Zodiac, growling. "Nine, arcanine" he said a in a deep bark. A rustling came from the bushes behind her. Zodiac's flame-gold eyes locked on the bush, catching sight of a black piece of clothing. She snarled at it, but didn't go after it. She turned back to the battle. "Zodiac? What is it? Is something over there?" Abby asked, fear in her voice. "No, Abby. It's fine. Let's just battle." she responded, her strawberry-blond hair blowing in the breeze. After the tournament was over, Zodiac and Fauzi retreated home. Fauzi walked into the backyard, laying next to his small house while Zodiac went inside for dinner, her curly hair coiling on her shoulders. The same thing happened with the friends for months, battles in the dust lot, same rustling bushes, same glimpses of black clothing. Until one day, Tabitha moved away, leaving Jaha behind. The Glaceon was heartbroken, waiting under the willow tree at the town entrance for weeks, not taking food or water. She lashed out at other Pokemon and people, attacking them to be left alone to wait for Tabitha, who wasn't returning. She eventually let her grief consume her, dying of a broken heart. She was buried under the willow where she waited so long for the one she missed so much. Munwa Town's people and Pokémon alike mourned the loss of the gentle Glaceon, leaving flowers at her grave every day. Munwa Town was in decline. Grief and sadness ruled the town's inhabitants, leaving them exposed. One night, the bushes rustled again, a normal event at this point. The smell of smoke filled the air, reaching Fauzi's nostrils. He jumped up, snarling at the rustling bush as two men with lit torches emerged, laughing. Fauzi roared, preparing to use slash on the intruders. The men looked at Fauzi, unintimidated as the huge Arcanine reared up on his hind legs. They then pulled sharpened pieces of metal as the flames encircled them. Fauzi's roars alerted Zodiac. She jumped out the back door, seeing Fauzi fall to the ground, dead. The two men looked at her, and them backed away in fear, running into the main town. A dog's growl sounded behind Zodiac as a brown-eyed Mightyena emerged from behind her. Many more appeared with her. One nudged an egg from Fauzi's house, among others that were all smashed. Zodiac rushed forward, grabbing the egg,, which already had a few cracks in it, ready to hatch. "Fauzi... You were a father..." she whispered, looking at Fauzi's body sprawled in the dirt. Screams erupted from the town, the fire spreading to the rest of the town. Zodiac looked up, tears streaming along her face. "Mightyenas! W-Why did you come here?" The brown-eyed Mightyena looked at her and the egg she was holding close. She barked at the other Mightyena, who began pushing Zodiac away from the burning town and up onto a high hill. Zodiac looked back at Munwa Town one last time as it was completely consumed in flames, no survivors left. Chapter One The trek to the Mightyena's territory was long and up and steep hills. Zodiac still clutched Fauzi's final egg close, the tiny Growlithe almost out. Tears streaked her soot stained face as she looked back at the smoke billowing from her former home, remembering everything she had just lost, her friends, her family, her Pokémon, everything. It was all gone. "Tabitha..." she whispered. "You and I are all that's left of Munwa Town. Please be safe. Wherever you are..." The moon hung low in the clouded sky, shining through the curtains of silver clouds. A light breeze ruffled through the trees, awakening the sounds of the night. Butterfree fluttered from tree to tree, playing bizarre games with each other. Two Pidgeotto flew, chasing each other through the air, calling after the other. The Mightyena settled in a grassy field close to a small cave, some laying down, others retreating to the den. The large brown-eyed Mightyena perched herself on a rock, overlooking the forest. Two Mightyena nudged Zodiac toward her, pushing her forward with their snouts. Zodiac continued forward, stopping next to the formidable Mightyena. "Why did you bring me here? Why did you go through all that trouble to save me?" she asked, the Growlithe now making faint noises in its eggshell. "Because you have a great power, Zodiac." the Mightyena responded telepathically. "How... How do you know my name?" she asked, the Growlithe breaking all the way free from its shell. "I've seen what you can do. Pokémon have a deeper connection with you than they do with others. That's why you and Fauzi were so close." the Mightyena said, her black and grey fur rippling like water in a lake. Zodiac winced, remembering her best friend's horrible demise. "Even though he's gone, you have his daughter." she said, gesturing to the sleeping Growlithe in her arms. "What will you call her?" Zodiac looked down at the tiny bundle of orange fur in her arms, rage entering her face. "Zira." she said coldly. Confusion entered the Mightyena's face, her one blind eye glittering in the moonlight. "Hate? But-''" "Because she's going to learn to hate those wretched men. ''Just as much as I do." The Mightyena's face seemed void of emotion for a brief moment. She then yawned, stretching her paws on the rock. "Call me Sepia, by the way." she said, walking toward the den. As the night faded into morning, Zodiac awoke in the Mightyena's den, Zira in her arms. She looked around, her vision still blurry from sleep. A howl pierced the air as several Mightyena ran into the den carrying berries in their teeth. Sepia dropped a Leppa Berry in front of Zodiac. "Eat." Zodiac's stomach growled. She was hungry. She reached forward and began to eat. Sepia nudged Zira to her feet and brought her over to where four young Poochyena waited eagerly for their breakfast. One had peculiar yet beautiful blue eyes. "Blue-eyes..." Zodiac mumbled between bites of food. Zira sat next to the blue-eyed Poochyena, looking at her, her brown eyes shining. Sepia dropped three Oran Berries at the Poochyena's feet and they eagerly dug in. Zodiac looked up at Sepia, who was sitting next to her. "Are they yours?" Sepia nodded. Mhm." Zodiac pulled herself to her feet, brushing the dust off her clothes. It was as if she'd never even left home. There were friends and family all around her, even now. Fauzi's scent filled the den, and, with the scraping of claws on stone, was gone. Zodiac looked down at where the claw scraping sound had come from, discovering a small piece of red stone. It shimmered with a strange force, as if it were made of fire. She stared at it for a brief moment before clipping it to the hollow casing on her silver choker necklace. It fit perfectly, a few sparks flying from it as it slid into place. "Come on." It was Sepia. "I'll show you the territory." Zodiac followed her out of the den, leaving the noisy Poochyenas and Zira behind inside. Sepia walked into the treeline, Zodiac trailing behind her. Sepia led her into the forest, rarely speaking as she did. A rustling sound filled the air. Zodiac jumped to attention, remembering the men in the bushes. Her lips raised in a snarl, eyes creasing into a scowl. Sepia jumped fearlessly into the bush and Zodiac followed, twigs catching in her flame-gold hair. Time for revenge! she thought. Sepia skidded to a halt in front of a bizarre, bird-like Pokemon. It had rainbow colored feathers and a beautiful plumy tail. It squawked in pain, holding its wing out. This allowed Zodiac to see what was bothering it. There were rope marks on its wing, leaving it in pain. Sepia stared, seemingly in disbelief. Her face let on nothing, however. Zodiac walked up to the injured Pokémon, getting a closer look at its wound. It was small, as if it weren't fully grown. She looked back at Sepia. "What is it?" The Pokémon screeched again, flapping its hurt wing. "It's a Ho-oh." Zodiac gasped. "You mean like the one in the legends?" Sepia nodded. "This one doesn't look to be fully grown though. It's likely young. Help me bring it back to the den. We can heal it there." Sepia grabbed a few long leaves and wrapped them around the Ho-oh's wing, hoisting it on to her back. Zodiac helped hold the Ho-oh on Sepia's back on the way back to the den. Sepia pushed three Oran Berries at the Ho-oh, gesturing for it to eat them. Two other Mightyena pressed sap covered leaves to its hurt wing. Sepia shook her head. "Not good enough. We need something stronger." Zodiac dug around in her bag, pulling out a Super Potion. "It's not much, but this might help." she said, spraying it on the Ho-oh. Within minutes, the Ho-oh had seemingly fully recovered. But it didn't fly away. It just stayed, looking at Zodiac and the different Mightyena in the den. It screeched again, nudging Zodiac's hand with its beak. "It wants to stay with you." Sepia said. "It's taken a liking to you." Chapter Two Zodiac had fully mastered the way of the forest, picking berries, hunting, and bringing back resources for the pack. The horrid fate of Munwa Town was now a dark, distant memory. She had grown rugged, strong, and intelligent. Zira had grown larger too. She was likely to be as big as her father when she was full-grown. Making close friends with Sepia's daughter, Blue-eyes, she got up close and personal with Mightyena hunting and fighting techniques, which taught her everything she'd need to know to become a powerful fighter. Two trainers spoke with each other as Zodiac and Zira crouched low in a bush. "Ok, remember the pattern?" Zodiac asked. Zira nodded quietly. "Alright. You and I will charge them and then Ho-oh will take care of the rest. You ready?" "Growlithe." Zira replied softly. "Ok. Let's go!" A snarl erupted from Zodiac's throat as she and Zira fling themselves from the bush, surprising the two trainers, causing them to drop their bags and run. Zodiac and Zira continued to chase the trainer as Ho-oh swooped from the sky to snatch the bags from the ground. "Zira, flank right! I'll take left!" Zodiac barked. She was surprisingly fast on four legs, darting to the left side of the leftmost trainer. Her scarred left eye glittering with anticipation. Her teeth snapped at the trainer's leg, causing him to stumble. Clink! Something hit the ground behind the trainers. Zira and Zodiac tuckered to a stop, looking at the dropped item. It was a Pokeball. The two looked at each other as Ho-oh landed next to them, the bags hanging from his beak. Zodiac reached forward, picking up the Pokeball. "What do you think's inside?" The two Pokémon gave her confused looks. She threw the Pokeball, signaling the Pokémon to come out. It was a horse-like Pokémon, flames lining its back. A Ponyta. "Ponyta?" the young Pokémon called out questioningly. Seeing its trainer nowhere in sight, it began to panic. A sand attack flew from behind them, hitting the Ponyta in the face. "She was getting flustered." Sepia said, shaking the dust from her pelt. "It looked as if she was going to attack you." She stomped on the Ponyta's Pokeball, causing it to retreat inside. She tossed it to Zodiac. "Good job, Zira. You too, Ho-oh." Zodiac tossed the Pokeball from hand to hand. WIP Category:Fanfiction Category:Work in Progress